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Respondents follow simple heuristics in interpreting the visual features of questions. The authors carried out two experiments in two panels to investigate how the effect of visual heuristics affects the answers to survey questions. In the first experiment, the authors varied the distance between scale points in a 5-point scale to investigate whether respondents use the conceptual or visual midpoint of a scale. In the second experiment, the authors used different end point labels of a 5-point scale, by adding different shadings of color and numbers that differed both in sign and value (2 to -2), to study whether options that are similar of appearance are considered conceptually closer than when they are dissimilar in appearance. The authors predicted that there is a hierarchy of features that respondents attend to, with verbal labels taking precedence over numerical labels, and numerical labels taking precedence over visual cues. The results confirmed the hypothesis: the effect of spacing of response options and different end points was only apparent in polar point scales and not in fully labeled scales. In addition, this study on two panels, with one consisting of extremely trained respondents and the other of relatively fresh respondents, shows that trained respondents are affected by the distance between response options whereas relatively new respondents are not. To reduce the effect of visual cues, taking into account the robustness of results, the authors suggest it is better to use fully labeled 5-point scales in survey questions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent experimental research has shown that respondents to forced-choice questions endorse significantly more options than respondents to check-all questions. This research has challenged the common assumption that these two question formats can be used interchangeably but has been limited to comparisons within a single survey mode. In this paper we use data from a 2004 random sample survey of university students to compare the forced-choice and check-all question formats across web self-administered and telephone interviewer-administered surveys as they are commonly used in survey practice. We find that the within-mode question format effects revealed by previous research and reaffirmed in the current study appear to persist across modes as well; the telephone forced-choice format produces higher endorsement than the web check-all format. These results provide further support for the argument that the check-all and forced-choice question formats do not produce comparable results and are not interchangeable formats. Additional comparisons show that the forced-choice format performs similarly across telephone and web modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For survey researchers, it is common practice to use the check-all question format in Web and mail surveys but to convert to the forced-choice question format in telephone surveys. The assumption underlying this practice is that respondents will answer the two formats similarly. In this research note we report results from 16 experimental comparisons in two Web surveys and a paper survey conducted in 2002 and 2003 that test whether the check-all and forced-choice formats produce similar results. In all 16 comparisons, we find that the two question formats do not perform similarly; respondents endorse more options and take longer to answer in the forced-choice format than in the check-all format. These findings suggest that the forced-choice question format encourages deeper processing of response options and, as such, is preferable to the check-all format, which may encourage a weak satisficing response strategy. Additional analyses show that neither acquiescence bias nor item nonresponse seem to pose substantial problems for use of the forced-choice question format in Web surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in survey mode for conducting panel surveys may contribute significantly to survey error. This article explores the causes and consequences of such changes in survey mode. The authors describe how and why the choice of survey mode often causes changes to be made to the wording of questions, as well as the reasons that identically worded questions often produce different answers when administered through different modes. The authors provide evidence that answers may change as a result of different visual layouts for otherwise identical questions and suggest ways to keep measurement the same despite changes in survey mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports the effect that the ranges presented in answer categories for survey questions can have on respondent answers. Responses categories were manipulated in a split-ballot survey conducted in both telephone and mail modes. These categories presented in the separate ballots, overlapped in one category; the other categories were unique to each ballot. The experiment was conducted on four questions: two frequent and mundane and two rare and salient. It was found that the response categories significantly affected the response for frequent and mundane questions. One question demonstrated a significant difference in response between the mail and telephone modes. For this question, a response scale with a limited number of socially desirable alternatives resulted in a social desirability effect in the telephone mode. Alternatively, the telephone mode demonstrated an extremeness effect when the response scale comprised a greater number of socially desirable alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the reasons behind the differences observed in responses across survey modes. A factor which affects the asking of many kinds of questions is cited. A mode difference that has been accentuated by the development of Internet surveying is given. The interconnected challenges posed by the trend in maximizing design features for each survey mode.